Abstract

MONTOYA RESTREPO, Nataly. Social Urbanism in Medellin: An Approach from the Strategic Use of Rights. Estud. Polit. [online]. 2014, n.45, pp.205-222. ISSN 0121-5167.

This article aims to develop a critical approach to Social Urbanism (SU), which was the model of urban intervention applied by Medellin's Municipal Administration during the last decade. This critical approach is developed through the discourse of rights and its strategic use, as well as some tools provided by the concepts of urban marketing, neo-urbanism, and contextual urbanism. The structure of the article is threefold: first, it describes the concept of SU; then, it approaches the roll of rights in SU's discourse; and lastly, the article presents some considerations about the reach of analysing SU through rights. The conclusion is that SU can be understood as the discursive practice accompanying the exercise of the public function of land-use planning. Therefore, its practice is not exclusively social, as most people believe, but it is also addressed to both improve the productivity of the city, and to develop the city as a destination for investors and tourists.

Keywords : Social Urbanism; Collective Rights; Urban Planning; Medellin.

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